


The Many Sounds of Silence

by ZequoiaRose



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Family Feels, Hurt/Comfort, Mute Ben, Protective Dean Winchester, Sick Dean Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24134977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZequoiaRose/pseuds/ZequoiaRose
Summary: “For talking to Ben. For treating him like a normal kid.” Lisa’s voice is barely above a whisper.“He is a normal kid.”“Not to a lot of people. Ever since he stopped talking no one ever looks at him. It’s like they think he can’t hear either. They never try to get to know him, and you have. So, thank you.”Slight AU. Ben never spoke after the changeling kidnapped him.
Relationships: Lisa Braeden/Dean Winchester
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50





	The Many Sounds of Silence

It had been two weeks since Dean had shown up at Lisa’s door more broken than she had ever seen him. He came with nothing but his car and red-rimmed eyes. She hadn’t hesitated letting him in. Lisa could see in his face that Dean didn’t want to talk that night - maybe is was that he physically could not talk about it yet. The next day he didn’t eat. Ben had sat in the living room with him, watching with all-knowing eyes as Dean stared at the wall. That night, after Ben had gone to bed, Dean broke down. Full body shaking sobs that scared Lisa as she held him. It eventually settled and Dean was able to talk. He told her what had happened, sparing very little of the details; he told her how angels were no longer the good guys, he told her that Sam is- was the only family he had left, he told her about Lucifer, and Castiel, and Michael. He told her that he said no while Sam finally said yes. Lisa had cried that night beside Dean. She knew how much Sam had meant too him, and to have him ripped away... Lisa did not like the story. 

Lisa talked, too. She told him about her new job, the crazy neighbors, the fact that she was so happy that Dean had come to her. And then she talked about Ben. Ben who hadn’t said a word after the trauma that the changeling imprinted in his brain. The roles reversed as she cried and told him that she didn’t know how to help her baby boy. He held her until both sets of eyes closed in a dreamless sleep. 

After that, Dean started eating and talking a bit more, and always, always including Ben, even though the boy still did not respond. It took about a week for the awkwardness of a new person in the house to go away, but now another week has passed, and it is starting to feel like home when after work she unlocks the door and hears Dean’s voice.

“You see, when Sammy was little, he never used to eat his veggies either,” Dean was saying. “But after a while it was all the freak ate.”

Lisa rounds the corner to find a picture that she swears makes her heart melt. Dean is standing by the stove cooking - vegetables by the sound of it - and Ben is sitting on the counter watching him. This is how it has been since she’s gone back to work after taking the week off at Dean’s arrival. She’d walk in the door to see Dean talking to Ben while doing whatever it was he found to do. While Ben was always silent, the two seemed to share a bond that the one’s silence didn’t even matter. They just understood each other. 

“You know, I was thinking tomorrow I was going to fix a few things on my car, would you like to help?” Dean asks, a quick look to Ben tells him that the younger is in. “Great. She just needs a little tune-up, so it should only take a few hours.” 

A few moments of silence pass before Lisa clears her throat, alerting her boys that she is home. Ben gives her a welcome home smile and Dean turns to see her in the doorway as well. 

“Hey, Lis,” Dean says. “I’m making stir-fry. It’s one of the things I’ve never ruined!” 

Lisa chuckles a bit as she walks further into the kitchen to stand by Ben, putting an arm around him as she looks over to see what Dean is working on. It’s a chicken, vegetable stir-fry that looks cooked to perfection. 

“Sounds amazing.” She grins at them both. “What have you two been doing today?” 

Ben looks over to Dean with eyebrows raised and Dean starts answering without missing a beat. “Well, we found the leak that you’ve been whining about under the sink, and Ben was able to fix that in record time,” he grins to Ben who grins right back. “Then we decided that hard work earned us a break, so we sat and watched a movie that Ben chose. We played a game of battleship and I smoked your boy-“ Ben jerks into a flailing movement that makes Dean chuckle. “Fine. He won the next round. That’s all on the Dean and Ben show today.”

Lisa smiles as she watches Dean and Ben during the whole conversation. Ben is responding so openly and Dean understands. Her eyes sting as she watches Ben connect with someone other than her. He never responds to anyone but her. Until now that is. 

“Wow. Sounds like a big day,” is all she says before Dean declares that dinner is ready.

———

It’s late, Ben is already in bed, and Lisa finds herself on the couch beside Dean, resting her head on his shoulder as the tv drones on in the background. 

“Dean,” She feels his shoulders tense a bit. “Thank you.”

“For what?” He asks. 

“For talking to Ben. For treating him like a normal kid.” Lisa’s voice is barely above a whisper.

“He is a normal kid.”

“Not to a lot of people. Ever since he stopped talking no one ever looks at him. It’s like they think he can’t hear either. They never try to get to know him, and you have. So, thank you.” 

The silence envelopes them again, but she can feel Dean thinking. So she waits until he finally tells her what he is thinking about. “When my mom died...” he starts. “I stopped talking.” Lisa sits up to look at him. His eyes are on the tv, but he isn’t seeing a thing. “I can’t explain it. I remembered how, I knew I could speak, but the actual act of doing it seemed too difficult. My dad was so mad. He told me everyday that my silence was making everything worse, that I was clearly stupid, and that I just needed to talk. It took a while, but I did eventually talk. But it wasn’t for him. It was for Sammy.” His eyes get the sad look they now get when he mentions his brother. “I remember wishing that people would just talk to me instead of talk around me, or talk about my silence. It made me so angry. I can’t imagine doing that to someone else. 

“There is nothing wrong, or broken with Ben, Lis. I have no doubt that he will talk again, but I just think he needs time. And I’d rather spend the time I have with him getting to know him rather than ignoring that he exists. He does exist, even if he is not speaking in words right now. I understand, and I want him to know that its okay to take time and process.”

Lisa’s feels a tear run down her face as she listens. This man has gone through so much and has every right to be angry and bitter, but he is kind and caring. He is sad, and broken, but he tries. And that is all there needs to be. She can’t do anything except whisper a tiny “Thank you.” She knows he understands what she means. 

She moves again to cuddle back into his side, feeling warm, and safe, and at peace. 

———

Lisa is watching Dean and Ben working on Dean’s stupid pride and joy as she cleans the house. The windows are open, so she can hear Dean’s chatter from under the car. Ben sits by Dean’s legs, handing him whatever the next tool is. Just as she is starting to turn away to get back to her cleaning, she hears a loud clang and a sharp curse. 

Dean rolls out from under the car, looking at the hand he must have hurt. 

“Well, let me tell ya, Ben. Those can hurt your hand like a bitch.” Dean curses again, realizing what he just said. “Let’s not tell your mom what I just said.”

Lisa only laughs, then finally turns away from her boys.

———

Lisa turns the corner into the kitchen and stops dead. Ben is laughing. Not just a little giggle, no, he is full belly-laughing - a sound that she hasn’t heard in years. She can’t stop the tears that fill her eyes as she watches her little boy. She finally tears her eyes away from Ben to look at Dean, easily finding the reason he is laughing. Dean is standing with his hands on his hips, a glare that loses its meaning from the sparkle in his eyes, and something that looks suspiciously like an entire pound of flour coating his entire body. God, these two. She feels her grin stretch wider as she stares at the scene. 

Dean turns, as if sensing her presence. “Oh, hi. Ben wanted to make a cake.” He says this like it explains everything. 

———

Four months later, Lisa walks through the door with groceries and finds Ben quietly doing homework and Dean passed out on the couch. 

“Hey, Ben. How was the day? It looks like you wore out poor Dean.” Ben grins at her. She makes her way to the kitchen to drop off the bags she’s carrying, then makes her way to sit on the couch, picking up Dean’s feet before setting them on her lap again. He stirs and slowly blinks his eyes open. 

“Hey, Lis,” he says, rubbing his eyes a bit. 

“Hey, back. Feeling okay?” Lisa asks him, noting that his face looks a bit paler than normal. 

“I’ll live. Just a little tired.”

She gives him a disbelieving look before turning her attention to Ben again. 

The next day while she is at work, Lisa hears her phone ring. She frowns as she sees Dean’s name flash. He should be at work right now. “Dean?” She answers. 

“Mom?” Her heart stops. She hasn’t heard that voice in so long. She covers her mouth with her hand. 

“Ben? Is that you, baby? Is everything okay?”

“It’s Dean. He’s sick. I don’t know what to do.” His voice is rough, but it’s Ben. Ben is talking. It takes Lisa a good thirty seconds to register Ben’s words. 

“He’s sick?” She frowns. 

“Yes. You need to come home.”

“Okay. Okay, baby. I’ll be right there.” She hears a click and she’s out the door with a quick explanation to her co-worker. She makes it home in just under 15 minutes. She finds Ben sitting next to a very green Dean. They are leaned up against the wall outside of the bathroom and the older has an arm around Ben. 

Dean’s eyes are closed, his head resting against the wall. “It’s okay. I’m okay, Ben. Just a little bug. I promise I’ll be okay,” he is saying. 

Lisa feels her stomach loosen in relief as she realizes that this is not, in fact, an emergency. She takes a closer look at Ben and notices the tear tracks and how hard he is gripping Dean. 

“Ben? Dean? What’s going on?” Lisa asks.

Both sets of eyes are on her now, she looks at Dean, but it’s Ben who speaks. “Dean is sick.”

“I see that.” She lowers into a crouch in front of the both of them, reaching and feeling just how warm Dean’s forehead is. Ben’s worried eyes watch every move, anxiously waiting for her to tell him what she thinks. 

“I’m okay,” Dean says, quietly. “Just a bug.”

She figured as much. “Let’s get you to bed, huh? I think a rest will make you get better before you know it!” She adds the last part for Ben’s benefit, and she knows that Dean catches her intention easily. She helps Dean up and gets him into bed, his eyes already closing. She turns to see her son standing in the doorway, his worry eased slightly now that she is seemingly taking care of Dean. “Okay, Ben-Ben. Let’s let Dean sleep, okay?”

Ben nods, but walks into the room anyway. She frowns in confusion as he crawls into bed beside Dean, curling into his side. She sighs, turning to go grab a glass of water when she hears a soft, “Mom?” That feeling grips her chest again as she faces her baby again. His hand is out in a gesture meaning to come lay down. She grins a bit as she nods and takes her shoes off. 

“Okay, sweetheart.” She gets into the now smaller feeling bed and cuddles close against Ben. Her Ben who is speaking again. She has to close her eyes against the emotion as she kisses his head. “I love you, Ben. So, so much.”

He doesn’t respond, but he does gently squeeze the arm that’s around him. She feels her boys slowly drift off to sleep. There was so much that she had planned to do this evening, but right now she can’t find it in herself to care. Her boys are more important anyway. Much to her surprise, she feels her eyes get heavy as well. Maybe a nap isn’t such a bad idea.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, Comments and Kudos make my day! If there are mistakes, I am so sorry. Thank you for reading!


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